Topic: New Stainless Exhaust

[Stevenarrow]

Hey ya,

My holiday project is a new stainless 4-1 exhaust for my CB750 K5. I'm still sanding and polishing the metal, but just wondering if i should think about any clear coat to help keep the shine and limit and surface rust... obviously i'd be concerned if any product couldn't take the heat.

any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

[wannabridin]

there's a clear powdercoat out there, but i don't know what kind of temperatures it can take.  other than that, just keep it polished, and try not to get it that wet.  wipe it down if you can when it does get wet, but stainless should hold up pretty good over the years if properly taken care of!

[Stev-o]

I wouldn't clear it, but I don't ride in the rain.
And don't wash it with water, not necessary.

photo?

[hotrodmetallica]

You could get one of those clear performance coatings for heat, but it may be a hassle shipping.

Just polish it up once in a while, stainless buffs out pretty good.

[FunJimmy]

but just wondering if i should think about any clear coat to help keep the shine and limit and surface rust...

Stainless doesn't rust!

Don't clear coat or anything other than polish the pipe.
If you ever get burnt on spots or stains, Mothers aluminum polish will take it off in minutes.

FJ

[wannabridin]

but just wondering if i should think about any clear coat to help keep the shine and limit and surface rust...

Stainless doesn't rust!

Don't clear coat or anything other than polish the pipe.
If you ever get burnt on spots or stains, Mothers aluminum polish will take it off in minutes.

FJ

ANYTHING can rust given the proper environment!   

but i agree, no clear coat will be necessary, just polish it up a bit if it starts to blue or stain...

[Stevenarrow]

thanks.

[BeSeeingYou]

Stainless steel requires the presence of oxygen to keep it's stainless properties.  It forms an oxide coating that gives it protection.   But yes it can rust under the right conditions.  It's stainLESS not rustfree.  It's highly polished surface also adds to it's stainless properties.  Research "passivating stainless steel".

[wannabridin]

Nice to see another metal head!  What's your background in??

And he's completely right!  It's why aluminum won't rust in your average environment.  It forms a protective oxide layer that prevents further oxidation.

[BeSeeingYou]

Nice to see another metal head!  What's your background in??

Drinking and womanizing.  Just kidding, I have no special background in metalurgy but have mucked around with boats much of my life so I know a bit about stainless, bronze, aluminum, etc and their reactions and properties for use in the marine world.

[Stevenarrow]

i just got the pipes installed last night and fired it up this morning. The headers went brown/yellow almost immediately. now that its cooled i can seem to buff it out. I cleaned them pretty good before i put them on... needless to say, im a little concerned that i may have messed them up before i even got out on the road...

any suggestions?

ps, i am kinda new to most of this -- feel free to talk to me like im a five year old...

[Stevenarrow]

other than that, it looks great and sounds amazing...

[MCRider]

i just got the pipes installed last night and fired it up this morning. The headers went brown/yellow almost immediately. now that its cooled i can seem to buff it out. I cleaned them pretty good before i put them on... needless to say, im a little concerned that i may have messed them up before i even got out on the road...

any suggestions?

ps, i am kinda new to most of this -- feel free to talk to me like im a five year old...

A thin wall performance pipe will blue (or other color) quickly. This is to be lived with and admired. Old Triumphs did this. Then the sanitized Jap bikes came in with double walled exhaust headers as to them the blue was not to be tolerated.

Over the years things change. When the HawkGT came out they purposefully (according to the writeups) went with a thin wall pipe to encourage bluing and give it some of the old time character.

Its a good thing. IMO  An indication it is a no nonsense pipe. Though that's maybe not for true, who cares? There is a product called BlueAway which will take a lot of the blue off and leave some of the yellow, again for character.

[BeSeeingYou]

ps, i am kinda new to most of this -- feel free to talk to me like im a five year old...

If you put that in your mouth one more time you're getting an ass whooping.

[HalfFastMoto]

Hey ya,

My holiday project is a new stainless 4-1 exhaust for my CB750 K5. I'm still sanding and polishing the metal, but just wondering if i should think about any clear coat to help keep the shine and limit and surface rust... obviously i'd be concerned if any product couldn't take the heat.

any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

Don't know about this forum but on others that I frequent there's a common saying - "Pic's or it didn't happen"   

[trueblue]

there's a clear powdercoat out there, but i don't know what kind of temperatures it can take.  other than that, just keep it polished, and try not to get it that wet.  wipe it down if you can when it does get wet, but stainless should hold up pretty good over the years if properly taken care of!

I wouldn't even consider powder coating, unless you like sticky pipes, because it starts to melt at around 150c and is well and truly melted by 180c, my advice is just polish them.

[MCRider]

there's a clear powdercoat out there, but i don't know what kind of temperatures it can take.  other than that, just keep it polished, and try not to get it that wet.  wipe it down if you can when it does get wet, but stainless should hold up pretty good over the years if properly taken care of!

I wouldn't even consider powder coating, unless you like sticky pipes, because it starts to melt at around 150c and is well and truly melted by 180c, my advice is just polish them.

Powder coating is used on exhausts all the time, and its very durable. That would include a clear I would think. Maybe its something special, but it is done, your powder coating tech could tell you. The same outfits use a ceramic coating, which is applied similarly to powder on exhausts as well, and it is very durable.

EDIT: My bad, powder coating is not used on exhausts that i know of, only the ceramic. Good news is its about the same price, and is touted as good in that it cools much faster than non-coated drawing out engine heat. So I'm told, I don't know that first hand. And I don't know if clear is available.

[wildcatmahone]

Anyone know about hi-temp powder coat, listed as good up to 1200 degrees.

[Retro Rocket]

Anyone know about hi-temp powder coat, listed as good up to 1200 degrees.

It is generally used as a coating for wood stoves and the like. I wouldn't use powder coat for pipes because it is a very thick coating, adding weight and ceramic coatings come in a range of colours and is a better finish and wafer thin as well..

Mick

[englishwheeler]

Stainless pipes naturally turn a bit of a champange color with heat. The thickness of the pipes can also determine the color change. What thickness did you use?

One thing you may want to watch is how well you have the pipes anchored. If there is any bit of free vibration, the welds can become brittle and crack. Just make sure your brackets are strong and tight.

[Hopper]

I have been running stainless steel header pipes on my BMW Airhead for years, and a stainless steel muffler on my VFR800 also for years. Looks like chrome. No corrosion, no rust, no polishing needed. Never.

The BMW headers do go a light straw colour around the first bend where the heat is, but it is a lot less discoloration than chrome turning blue in the same situation.

Almost all BMWs end up with full stainless pipes and mufflers because they rot the chrome systems out even quicker than Honda Fours.

You can get stainless steel in a variety of grades, each with varying amounts of nickel and chromium in the steel to make it "stainless". The cheaper, lower grades are more prone to a little discoloration. But the higher grades polish up like chrome and stay that way forever.

Clear coating stainless would be pretty much a waste of time.

Stainless muffler on my VFR after 10 years use:



And Aussie company makes all their pipes and mufflers out of stainless, with no clear coat ever needed.
http://www.staintune.com.au/


This is what they say they use:
"All Staintune products and hardware are made from 304 grade stainless steel which is one of the most durable materials to use and is impervious to all kinds of corrosion. 304 grade stainless steel can be polished to a mirror-like finish. Because of the nature of 304 stainless steel, at any stage of the product's life it can be buffed back to a deep as-new glow. Staintune motorcycle exhausts are made to outlast the competition. "